Mitt Romney Says His “Heart Aches” For The Unemployed

“I’ve been across the country. My heart aches for the people I’ve seen,” Romney told an enthusiastic crowd in Westerville on the second day of a bus tour across a state considered a must-win for him in the November 6 election.

On a day the candidate was joined by golf legend and Ohio native Jack Nicklaus, a new poll by Quinnipiac University and The New York Times spelled trouble for Romney.

It said that Democratic President Barack Obama – who also campaigned in Ohio on Wednesday – leads Romney in Ohio by 10 percentage points and is ahead in two other important states – Florida and Pennsylvania – by similar margins.

Ohio and Florida are politically divided states central to Romney’s hopes to amass the 270 electoral votes needed for victory, and losing either could be disastrous for the Republican.

The survey suggested that Romney, who was trailing Obama by a smaller margin at the beginning of last week, has been significantly damaged by the disclosure of a secretly taped video of him speaking at a private fundraiser in May.

Ohio is a relatively challenging place for Romney’s economic message. The state unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, below the national rate of 8.1 percent. One in eight jobs in Ohio is linked to the automobile industry, and Obama’s campaign has been reminding Ohio residents that he pushed through the industry bailout, and Romney opposed it.

“I was yesterday with a woman who was emotional and she said, ‘Look, I’ve been out of work since May.’ She was in her 50s. She said, ‘I don’t see any prospects. Can you help me?’ ” Romney said. “There are so many people in our country that are hurting right now,” Romney added. “I want to help them. I know what it takes to get an economy going again and creating jobs.”

What a douchelord. He needs to just go sit his azz down somewhere, because the damage is already done.